Winning - It's Partly In The Mind A Relaxation Technique May Improve The Performance Of Athletes

Personal health

It's panic time. You're in a closely contested game, and you suddenly realize that you're not doing that well. The thought starts to haunt you. Before you know it, you're bombarding yourself with negative mental scenarios.

Whether you choose to accept failure or to ignore it is often the critical point in sports that separates the winner from the loser. Sports is a mind game. For the most part, success comes to those who can come to grips mentally with the stressful situations that sports continually presents.

''While mental training is often the difference between winning and losing for elite athletes, it's even more important for the non-elite athlete who can't devote the elite's levels of time and training to his sport,'' says Scott Pengelly, a Eugene, Ore., sports psychologist who works with some of the world's top athletes.

''The weekend athlete has plenty of holes in his game,'' says Pengelly, ''but mental training can help him to recognize what strengths he does have. When it comes time to play, he'll focus on these strengths and not dwell on those shortcomings.''

Robert Cooper, author of Health and Fitness Excellence (Houghton Mifflin, $19.95), believes that while a positive mental attitude doesn't come naturally to all athletes, it is possible for almost anyone to develop a strong state of mind that can combat sports-related stress.

''In sports, games are won or lost depending on how you can handle your own internal voice,'' says Cooper, a former All-American swimmer at the University of Michigan and now the director of the Center for Health and Fitness Excellence in Bemidji, Minn.

''If your internal voice is telling you during a game that you're tired and should slow down, or worse, that you're no good as an athlete and sure to lose, you have to be able to find a way to resist and block out this voice,'' says Cooper.

Cooper has developed a five-step process, called the instant calming sequence, that he believes anyone can use to develop mind, emotion and body control to counteract stress.

With some practice, he says, the calming sequence will be triggered immediately when you confront stress, allowing you to keep playing at your best.

Cooper's first step calls for maintaining uninterrupted breathing. ''Most people halt their breathing for a few seconds during stressful situations,'' he says. ''This can often lead to anxiety, panic, anger, frustration and a loss of control.'' Instead, Cooper recommends, breathe deeply and smoothly at such times.

The next step is to smile. ''A positive facial expression increases blood flow to the brain,'' says Cooper, ''and it also makes the nervous system less reactive to negative stress.''

Also, good posture allows you to move properly and with ease. However, most people confronted with stress automatically collapse their chest and roll their shoulders forward, causing a loss of mental and physical control.

The fourth step calls for creating a ''wave of relaxation.'' ''Check all your muscles for tension with one quick sweep of the mind,'' says Cooper. ''Then pretend that you're standing under a waterfall that sweeps away all the tension, leaving you feeling relaxed and calm.''

The final step of the calming sequence involves acknowledging reality.

''You have to avoid getting tangled up in the challenges that you have to face,'' say Cooper. ''By exerting mental control, telling yourself that what's happening to you is real and that you're finding the best solution, you're able to take positive measures.''